Listening Session Questions and Answers For Participatory Engagement in Puerto Rico

Underserved communities, especially those in coastal areas in Puerto Rico, face significant threats from natural hazards such as hurricanes and rising sea levels. Limited funding hinders the investment in costly mitigation measures, increasing exposure to natural disasters. Providing coastal resources and data products through effective communication mechanisms is fundamental to improving the well-being of these underserved coastal communities. The overall objectives of the pilot effort to engage and connect with underrepresented coastal communities in Puerto Rico were the following: (1) compile a comprehensive database of the projects and resources relevant to natural hazards in Puerto Rico; (2) foster connections with Puerto Rican interested parties to better understand their priorities regarding coastal hazards and provide them with pertinent U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) resources; and (3) identify knowledge gaps to guide future USGS projects in Puerto Rico. To address these objectives, USGS team members engaged in a series of listening sessions with interested parties and potential collaborators to assess their information needs and preferences, their perception of the agency’s information resources, and their recommendations for improvement. The research team organized five (5) listening sessions with 24 interested parties in total via Zoom, to assess their needs and perceptions regarding USGS natural hazards resources for Puerto Rico. The listening sessions focused on: (1) interested parties’ information needs and preferences, (2) their perception of the agency’s information resources, and (3) recommendations for improving resources to meet their needs. For further information about this data, refer to the associated journal article (Torres-García and others, 2024).